


Bionics and Ghosts

by DMe_385



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-08 22:05:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8865091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DMe_385/pseuds/DMe_385
Summary: Physics professor Erin Gilbert meets a new Columbia professor Jillian Holtzmann who has been through the traumas of war.





	1. Chapter 1

Bionics and Ghosts- Chapter 1

 

It was a warm fall morning for Dr. Erin Gilbert as she got out of a taxi at Columbia. The fall semester was starting in a week and today was Orientation Day for the faculty. She greeted various colleagues as she entered the lecture hall. From the corner of her eye, she saw Dr. Rebecca Gorin chatting with the dean. Gorin was an eccentric engineering professor. Erin admired the woman because she was involved in different disciplines of engineering.

Erin was chatting with a biology professor when she felt a tap on her shoulder it was Gorin.

 

"Hello Dr. Gilbert, it's great to see you. Could I speak to you?" Gorin said with a smile.

 

"Sure you can." Erin said as she turned away from the biology professor.

 

Gorin looked at her as they walked into a hallway and said, "I understand you are on the peer welcome committee."

 

"I am. Would you like to join?" Erin asked.

 

"Oh no. One of the new faculty members is someone close to me. I was wondering if you could help me in getting her introduced to Columbia."

"I see. Is she new to academia?"

Gorin stopped walking and said, "She is. Her name is Dr. Jillian Holtzmann, she is a former student of mine. Her specialties are nuclear and weapons engineering. She joined the Army several years back. She was deployed overseas to Iraq to test out new weapons. She and her unit hit roadside bomb in their Humvee. Jillian was severely injured."

Erin gapsed, "How was she exactly hurt?"

"She lost her left arm and leg.  Luckily, biomedical engineering is one of my other expertise areas. I went to Iraq right away and worked with the prosthetists to create the best prosthetic limbs for Jillian. That was three years ago. Since then, she has been doing some odd jobs while living in an apartment that I used to rent out in Brooklyn. It took me awhile but I convinced her to apply for a teaching position her. I'm going to keep doing my best to help her, but I feel it would be a good for another professor to help her in this transition period. So, what do you think Dr. Gilbert?

Erin paused for a few moments and then said, "Yes. I can try to help your friend."

Gorin smiled and said, "Thank you. She has been hanging out in my lab. Would you like to meet her now?"

Erin just nodded.

Twenty minutes later, the two were entering Gorin's lab and office in the engineering department. An 80s song was playing at a low volume on the radio. As Gorin opened the door, Erin saw the back figure of a woman spinning in Gorin's office chair. She saw curly blonde hair in a up hair do. The blonde wore a leather jacket, with khakis and boots.

"Jillian, I have someone I would like you to meet."

The woman turned around and Erin saw her face. She noticed the woman's slight smile which showed dimples. Then she saw the pretty blue eyes.

Gorin said, "This is Dr. Erin Gilbert. She is part of the welcome committee here at Columbia.

Jillian said in a shy manner, "Hi."

She then held out her left hand to Erin.

Erin glanced down and saw her left hand and then her eyes moved to the prosthetic right hand. She shook Jillian's left hand and stared a bit at the prosthetic on the right hand.

"Welcome to Columbia Dr. Holtzmann."

"Thank you. I'm a bit nervous as this is my first teaching job.  What do you teach? The blonde asked.

"Physics courses."

Erin, Gorin, and Holtzmann chatted for awhile before heading over to the Orientation lunch.

* * *

 

It was the end of the day, when Erin received a call from her landlord while talking with Rebecca. The landlord informed Erin that pipes had burst in several apartments and water was everywhere and that water system was going to be shut off for a few days for repairs. Erin was upset by the news as she didn't want to impose on friends nor did she want to stay in a hotel.

Gorin then suggested, "The apartment in Brooklyn has two bedrooms. You're welcome to stay there if it's ok with Holtzmann."

Erin was unsure about the suggestion, but she was also grateful for the offer.

The two women went and talked to Holtzmann who agreed to let Gilbert stay with her.

Erin headed to her apartment and packed a couple of suitcases and got her laptop.

She found the address in Brooklyn later that evening and knocked on the door.

Holtzmann answered and said, "Welcome, house guest."

Erin smiled and said, "Thank you again for this."

"It's no problem. I'm paying it forward. Rebecca has helped me out a lot in the past few years and I'm also thankful for the help you are giving me as I start this new job."

The apartment was medium sized and a few bookcases held various books related to engineering and nuclear subjects. Later that night, Erin ordered out for Chinese food. She watched as Holtzmann used her very advanced prosthetic hand to use chopsticks.

Holtzmann said, "It's pretty rad huh"

"It is. I really didn't know that prosthetics have advanced quite a bit." Erin said.

Holtzmann's prosthetic arm and hand were a silver metallic color. The fingers moved and hand opened up due to the electrodes implanted in the unit which communicated with Holtzmann's muscle movements in the residual limb."

"Rebecca and the team at the Army hospital really came through for me." Holtzmann said.

A few hours later, Erin went to bed. She heard the TV on in the living room before she fell asleep. 

* * *

 

It was six am when she awoke. She was thirsty and got out of bed and was heading into the kitchen when she saw Holtzmann asleep on the couch. But, she was taken back by what she saw. Holtzmann's prosthetic arm and leg were off and were set aside by the couch. The blonde's leg stump and arm stump showed ugly scars on the ends. Erin was saddened to see the damages of Holtzmann's war injuries.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

Erin went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water while glancing towards the sleeping Holtzmann on the couch. She was still disturbed by seeing Holtzmann's amputated limbs without the prosthetics. She later went to shower and get dressed. As Erin was showering, Holtzmann was slowly waking up. Then there was the phantom pain in her amputated leg. She hated the phantom pains, several minutes later it went away. She heard Erin in the shower and put on her prosthetics and headed into her bedroom to pick out clothes for the day. She heard Erin come out of the bathroom. As she left her bedroom, she grabbed a crutch that she used for getting into the shower. In the bathroom, she again took off her prosthetic limbs and then her clothes. Using the crutch she got into the tub and bathed and made sure that her stumps were properly cleaned to prevent infection. After getting out of the tub, she dried off and then put clean stump socks on her leg and arm stumps. She got her bra and underwear on and then put jeans and a tank top on. 

When she came back to the living room, she found a note that read, "I went out to get bagels and coffee. I'll be back soon. - Erin".

She smiled at her house guest's kind gesture. She sat back on the couch and started to read articles from a science magazine and then her iPhone made a beeping sound. It was a text message that read, "Hey Holtzy, do you want to come with me to a new exhibit at the New York Historical Society?-Patty".

Patty Tolan was a woman that Holtzmann had befriended a year before at the subway. Holtzmann sent a reply saying she would like to attend, but had a house guest. Patty replied back and said to invite the house guest.

Erin came into the apartment several minutes later carrying a white paper bag and two cups of coffee.

"Here are the bagels and I got you black coffee and brought some creamer packets in case you take it with cream." Erin said.

"Thanks for this. You didn't need to go out and get bagels." The blonde said.

"It just a way to show appreciation for you letting me stay here." Erin said.

"A friend of mine just invited me to view an exhibit at the New York Historical Society. You're welcome to join us."

"I'm not sure. I wouldn't want to impose.

Holtzmann said, "You're not imposing. My friend Patty is a nice person and loves meeting different kinds of people. She has taught me a lot about history."

Erin asked, "Does she teach?"

"No. She works for MTA, but reads a lot of history books."

"Well, I guess I could go with you two."

..................

A few hours later, Patty arrived at the apartment. Holtzmann introduced her to Erin. The three headed to the subway and then later walked to the New York Historical Society. The exhibit was about the mafia in a New York. Erin watched as Patty enthusically took down notes on her iPhone. After viewing the exhibit, the group went to a small pizzeria for lunch. Patty had noticed Holtzmann checking out Erin earlier. When the redhead went to the bathroom, Patty decided to ask if Holtzmann had a crush on Erin.

"So, Holtzmann your new friend is pretty. I think I caught you crushing on her." Patty teased.

The blonde was embarrased and quickly said, "I don't have a crush on her."

Patty said, "Girl, it's ok to admit to having crushes."

Holtzmann replied, "I do think she is an attractive and smart woman. I don't know her orientation. But, if she is into women, I doubt she would go for someone like me. I'm not a whole woman."

Patty said, "Why do you keep putting yourself down? You're strong and beautiful. You survived a horrible ordeal."

The blonde stayed quiet. Patty wasn't the first person to encourage her to develop self-esteem. Holtzmann had tried hard to view herself as a survivor, but couldn't and to an extent viewed herself as damaged and incomplete.

Erin came out from the bathroom and took her seat next to Holtzmann.

Patty said, "I need to work the evening shift. I'm going to take a cab home and get ready for work. It was cool hanging out with you two. Good to meet you Erin."

Erin and Patty shook hands.

.............

An hour later, Erin and Holtzmann arrived back at the apartment building. While walking up, Holtzmann slipped and Erin quickly helped her up.

"Are you ok?" She asked

Holtzmann said, "Yeah, I'm ok. This happens every once in awhile with my prosthetic."

They continued onto the apartment.

As they entered, Erin said, "You seem to walk quite well on your prosthetic."

"Yeah, I do a lot better than I did back in rehab. There was a lot of falling and crying back then. Rebecca, the therapists, and the prothestists didn't give up on me and they kept working on making things better for me and I worked hard to get walking again.

Erin cooked dinner that night. It was lasagna and a salad which Holtzmann complimented her on.

Bed time came and Holtzmann headed into her bedroom instead of the couch. She did her routine of taking off her prosthetics and making the stumps were in good condition and didn't have any sores. After brushing her teeth, she climbed into bed and thought about what Patty had said earlier in the day. She eventually drifted off to sleep, but around 2 am, there was the nightmare of the roadside bomb and the memories of her screaming in pain and seeing blood and how damaged her limbs were. She was crying and screaming in her sleep. Erin heard it and decided to check on Holtzmann.

When she entered the room, she saw Holtzmann thrashing around and she decided to try and calm her down.

"Jillian, wake up. It's me."

Holtzmann jolted fully awake and found Erin comforting her and rubbing circles into her back.

Erin said, "Just calm down. You're safe here"

Holtzmann calmed down and felt safe in Erin's arms.

The redhead wondered if Holtzmann had been having a war nightmare.

When Holtzmann calmed down more she took herself out of Erin's arms and said, "Erin, please leave the room."

"Are you sure? Are you ok? I can stay here with you."

"Yes, I'm sure."

The redhead left the room and Holtzmann cried a bit. She hated her other people seeing her in that kind of condition.


End file.
